US President Donald Trump, who has made several inflammatory remarks on Islam, has arrived in Saudi Arabia, home to a particularly austere form of the religion. How he deals with the topic will be watched with interest.
Image: Reuters/J.Ernst
Advertisement
Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia
00:56
This browser does not support the video element.
As US President Donald Trump starts his first official visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, he is being carefully watched in light of comments he has made, both during his election campaign and after gaining the presidency, that have been seen by many as hostile both to Islam and Muslims.
During his campaign, he famously pledged to close US borders to all Muslims out of security concerns.
"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on," he told a rally in the state of South Carolina in December last year.
As president, he then introduced two travel bans for several predominantly Muslim countries for "security reasons," though he and his administration insist that these were not "Muslim bans."
Merkel's statement on Trump's travel ban
01:02
This browser does not support the video element.
The bans, which were blocked by US courts, did not include Saudi Arabia - one of the main US allies in the Middle East - among the blacklisted countries, although 15 of the 19 men involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks were Saudi citizens.
Critics of the proposed bans have pointed out that no significant terrorist attacks have been carried out on US soil by nationals from the six countries that are listed: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.
The second attempt to put a ban in place removed Iraq from an original list of seven countries whose nationals would not have been allowed to enter the United States.
Contradictory statements
However, his comments on Islam and Muslims have often contradicted each other.
On the negative side, he told the US broadcaster CNN, "Islam hates us." When asked whether he meant all of the religion's 1.6 billion adherents, Trump answered: "I mean a lot of them."
He has also frequently claimed that Muslims represented a security threat: "I didn't see Swedish people knocking down the World Trade Center" is just one example in which he compared Swedes favorably with Muslims.
And he drew vehement criticism even from within his own party for comments in which he seemed to suggest that the mother of a Muslim American soldier killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq had been forbidden by religious considerations from speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
On other occasions, however, he has said, "I love the Muslims. Great people," and referred to the "phenomenal" people from the Muslim community he has worked with.
Trump has also used inflammatory rhetoric with regard to Mexicans, women and many othersImage: Getty Images/AFP/J. Watson
On his Saudi trip, Trump has said he will ask Muslim leaders "to fight hatred and extremism and embrace a peaceful future for their faith."
The president is seen as being likely to find favor in Sunni Saudi Arabia for his tough stance on Shiite Iran. His predecessor, Barack Obama, had aroused suspicion in Gulf Arab states for what was seen by them as a lenient attitude to their regional rival.
Trump's Middle East visit - awaited with skepticism and hope
As US President Donald Trump makes his first international trip, residents of the Middle East from all walks of life share what they expect of him.
Image: Reuters/F. Al Nasser
Nayef al-Hayzan in Saudi Arabia: 'Will have positive impact'
US President Trump visits two bastions of relative calm in the war-battered Middle East: Saudi Arabia and Israel. In a café in Riyadh, Nayef al-Hayzan explained why he is confident about the US president's trip: "I expect that Trump's visit will have a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and discussions are expected to tackle the problems in Syria."
In Jerusalem, Israel, falafel shop owner Ovad Chen has a more fatalistic view: "I see myself as a very simple person and I believe that at the end of the day, God controls everything. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what Trump is saying or doing in the Middle East or anywhere else."
Image: Reuters/N. Elias
Iraqi fighter Ali Bassem: 'He is a hero'
All 50 Muslim states whose leaders Trump will meet in the Saudi capital are menaced by the rise of the so-called Islamic State. Ali Bassem, an Iraqi fighter the on the frontline in Mosul is enthusiastic: "He is a hero. He got [IS] out of Iraq. He is cooperative with the Iraqi people and we and the Americans are one nation. We are brothers."
Image: Reuters/D. Siddiqui
Pub owner Somar Hazim in Damascus: 'No clear methodology'
In his pub in Damascus, Syria, Somar Hazim explained his views: "His Syria policy is based on interests, in the sense that there's no clear methodology. As for the issue of arming the Kurds, I do not oppose this as long as the goal is fighting a common enemy of the Syrian state, which is [IS], provided that these weapons are not exploited to create a partitioned idea of Syria."
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Sherine Haji in Syria: 'I am worried for my people'
Sherine Haji, a female fighter in the Kurdish YPG militia rests in a hospital in Syria. She has a more critical view: "The plan to arm the YPG is a decision taken late. If this support was happening in the first place, the advances would have been quicker. Now I'm wounded, I've lost two legs, I'm worried for my people. This must end, there must be a free and peaceful life in this country."
Image: Reuters/R. Said
Anonymous female fighter in the Gaza strip: 'A man of war'
An anonymous female fighter from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), in the southern Gaza Strip remarked: "Trump is a man of war, he works on spreading war, chaos and killing among people. Like other presidents who came before him, I do not see he will bring about peace or any good to the Palestinian people. I see that there is another war coming."
Image: Reuters/I. A. Mustafa
Marla Awad from Syria on the travel ban 'very bad decision'
Attitudes are also colored by the actions of Trump's first months in power, among them his attempt to ban citizens of some mostly Muslim countries from traveling to the US. Marla Awad from Damascus was upset: "What matters to me was one very bad decision - his refusal to allow Syrians to immigrate to America is racist. Traveling was a dream of mine to fulfill my ambitions to study and work."
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Student Mubarak Mashali in Egypt: 'Things will get worse'
In Egypt, Mubarak Mashali, a student at Cairo University, was very skeptical, "I think Trump is going to ruin things and make them worse than they already are throughout the whole Middle East."
Image: Reuters/M. A. El Ghany
Sattar Muhsin Ali in Baghdad: 'Trump's policy will hold positive elements'
A different attitude was expressed by Sattar Muhsin Ali in his store in Baghdad, Iraq: "I think the core policy of Trump is focusing on eliminating terrorism and drying out its financial sources in the world and curbing the terror-supporting states. Iraq suffered a lot from the policy of former American administrations which led to the spread of chaos and finally to the emergence of [IS]."
Image: Reuters/T. Al-Sudani
Dates seller Djamel Bouktech in Algeria: 'Will always be friends'
In Algiers, Algeria, dates seller Djamel Bouktech is pragmatic: "I think it's just a simple courtesy visit because the Arabs of the Middle East are and will always be friends and strong allies of the USA. This will have a positive effect for the allies and a negative for the others in the Middle East in the long term because of the fragility of the region."
Image: Reuters/R. Boudina
Refugee Lara Shahin hopes for a 'return to a democratic country'
Trump's decision to launch cruise missiles against a Syrian airbase to punish Damascus for a chemical weapons attack was analyzed by Lara Shahin in Amman: "Trump's decision to strike at the airbase was a surprise move that raised my hopes the US president will take bolder decisions in the future that would end President Bashar al-Assad's rule and allow me to return home to a democratic country."
Image: Reuters/M. Hamed
George Gharib in Lebanon: 'Trump will be like all previous presidents'
In his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, George Gharib doesn't expect much: "I do not expect any change in American policies towards the region, especially since President Trump is committed to moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and there is no intention to
pressure Israel. He will be like all previous presidents who came before him
with bias and abiding by Israeli interests."
